Starting A.D. 400 (around the time of their invasion of England) and running through to the 1100s (the ‘Aftermath'), historian Geoffrey Hindley shows the Anglo-Saxons as formative in the history not only of England but also of Europe. The society inspired by the warrior world of the Old English poem Beowulf saw England become the world's first nation state and Europe's first country to conduct affairs in its own language, and Bede and Boniface of Wessex establish the dating convention we still use today. Including all the latest research, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons is a fascinating assessment of a vital historical period.
Introduction: An Idea of Early England
Chapter 1. Invaders and Settlers: Beginnings to the Early 600s
Chapter 2. Southern Kingdoms, AD 600–800
Chapter 3. Northumbria: The Star in the North
Chapter 5. Apostles of Germany
Chapter 6. Alcuin of York and the Continuing Anglo-Saxon Presence on the Continent
Chapter 7. Viking Raiders, Danelaw, ‘Kings’ of York
Chapter 8. The Wessex of Alfred the Great
Chapter 9. Literature, Learning, Language and Law in Anglo-Saxon England
Chapter 10. The Hegemony of Wessex: The English Kingdom and Church Reforms
Chapter 11. Danish Invasions and Kings: Æthelred ‘Unraed’, Cnut the Great and Others
Chapter 12. Edward the Confessor, the Conquest and the Aftermath
Appendix 1: The Bayeux Tapestry
Appendix 2: The Death of Harold and His Afterlife?
Appendix 3: Royal Writing Office or Chancery?